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The Interactive Team Review…

4 Massive Myths of Entrepreneurship

At The Interactive Team, we’re a company like no other and here’s why. Our team is built predominantly of entrepreneurs. Hungry, driven, motivated entrepreneurs dedicated to driving their businesses forward and to becoming unbelievably successful as a product of hard-work, persistence, professional development, and well, never giving up!

Let’s quickly take a look at some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. Steve Jobs – founder of Apple Inc, Richard Branson – founder of Virgin, Mark Zuckerberg – founder of Facebook. What do they all have in common? They were born that way. JOKE! Of course they weren’t! Sure, they all carry very similar personality traits such as commitment and resilience, but entrepreneurship definitely isn’t something found in the genes. Believe it or not – this is actually contrary to both popular belief and conventional wisdom. You would not believe the amount of false thinking that surrounds entrepreneurship. I guess it’s easy to make assumptions because we only really see entrepreneurs at the ‘success stage’ and not during the actual process of building a business.

Let me clear up some common conjecture for you. Here are 4 massive myths of entrepreneurship…

“Entrepreneurs are very intelligent”

It would be foolish to assume that a Masters degree or some form of higher education would guarantee entrepreneurial success. Trust me – it won’t. Factors such as ambition, tenacity and dedication play a much bigger part then any sort of academia when it comes to entrepreneurship. Don’t get me wrong, there will be many entrepreneurs out there with qualifications and whatnot, in fact, I think it would be safe

“Entrepreneurs love taking risks”

Seriously – who in their right mind would love taking risks? If you look up the definition for ‘risks’, it says a situation involving exposure to danger. So seriously, who? No one, is the answer, and certainly not entrepreneurs. Risks, however, form a huge integral part of building a profitable business so naturally, they become necessity to an entrepreneur hungry for success. Of course, some entrepreneurs may thrive off taking the odd gamble but this doesn’t account for them all. The difference with entrepreneurs is that they take intelligent, well-thought-out, manageable risks because they can see the bigger picture.

“Entrepreneurs start companies on their own”

Sure, when we glance at famously successful entrepreneurs, they seem to ride solo but if you take a closer look, you’ll see that their business empires were built upon a strong foundation of diverse individuals all driven towards one goal. Contrary to conventional wisdom, entrepreneurs are not amazing at everything! We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and so do entrepreneurs which means that it’s pretty impossible to create a highly profitable business on your own.

“Entrepreneurs are born that way”

No. Not true, completely misguided and possibly the biggest entrepreneurial myth around. In fact, believe it or not, most people probably have the ability to become an entrepreneur if they are taught, learn and develop a specific set of skills. I can comfortably assure you though, that entrepreneurship definitely isn’t inherent. If you quick-search famous entrepreneurs, you’ll actually find that a lot of them come from poor backgrounds or disadvantaged families, so quite the opposite to success!

My biggest tip if you are looking to succeed as an entrepreneur is not to take widespread theories at face-value. If you’re looking for entrepreneurial inspiration or motivation, don’t base this on speculation. If you are genuinely driven to succeed, you will dismiss any myths you’ve heard and focus all your energy on achieving your goals.

Remember – you may not have been born an entrepreneur, but you may have been born to make a difference.